Our Confession: Jesus Is Lord

2 Peter 1:1-2
P. G. Mathew | Sunday, April 08, 2018
Copyright © 2018, P. G. Mathew

In the first two verses of his second epistle, the apostle Peter speaks about the confession of every true Christian: Jesus is Lord. The apostle Paul declared, “If you confess with your mouth ‘Jesus is Lord’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom. 10:9). This promise, like every promise in the Bible, is true. The Bible alone is truth because God cannot lie.

Salvation for sinners, who by nature are enemies of the true, living, and triune God, the God of the holy Bible, is found only in Jesus Christ of history. Worship of anyone or anything else is idolatrous, for it is worship of creation and therefore sinful (Ps. 96:4–5).

In Peter’s second epistle, the chief apostle is presenting Jesus Christ as Savior, God, and Lord. Peter preached in Acts 4:12, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” Let us, then, consider 2 Peter 1:1–2, which deals with our Christian confession: Jesus Lord.

The Author

The epistle begins, “Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ” (v. 1). The author identifies himself as Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Christ. In the Greek, the word for “servant” means “bond-slave,” and should be translated as such, as Dr. John Frame does.[1] So Peter identifies himself as a bond-slave and apostle of Jesus Christ. He also identifies himself in this letter as the author of his first epistle, writing, “Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking” (2 Pet. 3:1). If you want to stimulate your mind, read the holy Scriptures. Nothing stimulates our minds better than God’s word. Jesus said, “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17).

Simon was a poor fisherman when Jesus called him to be a fisher of men and to make disciples of all nations. So in this text, he identifies himself in two roles: as a bond-slave of Jesus Christ and apostle of Jesus Christ.

The effectual call from God comes not to many who are wise, of noble birth, or influential. God chooses the foolish to shame the wise and the weak to shame the strong. He chooses the lowly, the despised, the zeroes and nothings of this world to nullify, that is, to make nothing, of the things that are. He chose the publican to go to heaven—the publican who cried out to Jesus, “Have mercy on me, a sinner,” and he abandoned the self-righteous Pharisee, who was on his way to hell (Luke 18).

Jesus chose Peter to be his bond-slave. A bond-slave is a slave who loves his master so much that he rejects freedom when it is offered and, instead, commits himself to obeying his master all of life. To mark this commitment, the master pierces the slave’s right earlobe (Exod. 21:5–6). For such a slave, his freedom is slavery to his master, the Lord Jesus.

But not only was Peter a bond-slave of Christ, he was also the chief apostle of Christ, one commissioned to a task by Christ, who is Lord—Christ who received all authority in heaven and on earth from his Father. Jesus himself was an apostle, as we read in Hebrews: “Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess” (Heb. 3:1). The authority of an apostle is the authority of Christ himself. An apostle was one who proclaimed the gospel, wrote Scripture, and interpreted the Scripture infallibly. Apostles were God’s representatives. Jesus said of them, “He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me” (Matt. 10:40).

Jesus gave Peter the name Cephas, which is Aramaic for Petros, which means “rock.” Though he denied Jesus three times, Peter became a rock through the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Jesus chooses such Simons—weak people—and makes them rock-like through the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, “You shall receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8).

Christians are not weak when they are filled with the Holy Spirit. Like Peter, they become rock-like by the power of the Holy Spirit upon them. Peter wrote, “As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, [are] like living stones” (1 Pet. 2:4–5).  Paul speaks similarly: “That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12:10). And, eventually, Peter was crucified for his faith. He became strong, a rock in his faith.

Like the apostles, pastors are also gifts of Christ for the church (Eph. 4:11). They are appointed by the Holy Spirit (Acts 20:28), and their authority is the authority of Christ who sent them. Their job is to interpret correctly the Scriptures and preach the gospel in the power of the Spirit, so that the elect sinners may be saved and the saints edified.

The Recipients of This Letter

Peter ministered to Jews, Samaritans, and Gentiles (see Acts 2, 8, and 10). And Paul tells us that Peter was especially known as an apostle to the Jews (Gal. 2:8). In 2 Peter 3:1, Peter says that he wrote this second letter to the same people who received his first letter, believers in the churches of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. He wrote this letter especially to warn these believers about the heresy known as antinomianism. The heresy prevailing in the Christian world today is that of antinomianism, that a person can be saved and continue to sin.

Faith

Peter writes that these recipients received “a faith as precious as ours” (v. 1). All believers in Jesus are his bond-slaves. Only a few are apostles, in the strict sense of the word. Paul was the last apostle, in that sense, that Christ appointed (1 Cor. 15:7).

But the faith of every believer is equally precious as the faith of the apostles because it is faith in Christ. There is no difference. They all experience effectual calling in the preaching of the gospel. That is the miracle of regeneration. And, therefore, they receive the gifts of true repentance and saving faith in Jesus by which they are vitally united to Christ the vine. They receive the life of Christ in the soul of man and bear much fruit of obedience for God’s glory and for their eternal joy.

We read about this throughout the New Testament:

• Ephesians 2:4–5, 8: “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ, even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. . . . through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.”
• Acts 16:30–31: “[The jailer] then brought [Paul and Silas] out and asked, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ They replied, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.’”
• Philippians 1:29: “For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him.” Faith and suffering are gifts from God. It is not just faith that is a gift; it is also suffering.
• Acts 11:18: “When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, ‘So then, God has granted [gifted] even the Gentiles repentance unto life.’”
• 2 Timothy 2:25: “Those who oppose [the Lord’s servant] he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth.” Faith and repentance are gifts to those who are born of God, the elect people of God.

There are no second-class citizens in the kingdom of God. Everyone is a first-class citizen. So we read,

• Colossians 3:11: “Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.”
• Galatians 3:26–29: “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
• Ephesians 3:6: “This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.” There is no discrimination in God’s church.
• Romans 10:12: “For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him.”

The divine gift of faith to the regenerate connects us to God. Nothing in all creation can do that—not our money, our degrees, our political power, or our beauty. This faith is precious because it is out of this world. With this faith, we confess, “Jesus is Lord,” and are saved to go to heaven. Those who do not have such faith will go to hell forever.

What about you? Have you trusted in Jesus Christ alone? I have trusted in him, and I am going to heaven. And I want you to come with me to heaven. Paul writes, “No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor.12:3). He also says, “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom. 10:9).

This faith is precious because the cost is too high; no sinner can pay it. Peter writes, “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect” (1 Pet. 1:18–19). Jesus said, “What does it profit if you gain the whole universe but lose your soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matt. 16:26, author’s wording). Nothing in all creation can save us from the wrath of God.

Let us, therefore, praise God for the gift of this precious faith!

Election

Peter is writing “to those who . . . have received a faith as precious as ours” (v. 1). This faith is received only by the elect. The Greek word Peter uses for “received” is lagchanô, which means “to cast the lot to choose.” Zechariah the priest was chosen to serve in the temple by casting the lot: “He was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense” (Luke 1:9). And we read in Proverbs 16:33, “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.”

If you truly believe in Jesus Christ, it means God has chosen you from all eternity to believe in Jesus and be saved. This means only the elect receive this precious faith, which is the ticket to eternal life, heaven, and glory. Peter writes, “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia” (1 Pet. 1:1).

Jesus said, “For many are called, but few are chosen” (Matt. 22:14). There is general call and special call. Special call means God will regenerate you, and you will repent of your sins, believe in Christ and be saved. Such people will persevere to the end and go to heaven. But for those who are not elect, the general call will make them more guilty, and they will go to the bottom of hell. More knowledge means more responsibility.

Paul writes of this. He says, “Just as it is written: ‘Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated’. . . . Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. . . . What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory?” (Rom. 9:13, 18, 23). Do you want to challenge God’s election? Go and fight with the eternal, unchanging God, the Creator and Redeemer.

If you have believed in Jesus to save you, you are objects of God’s mercy, prepared for glory. Then God is your inheritance, as the psalmist proclaims: “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Ps. 73:26). God is our inheritance, not a piece of land.

But that is not all. In Deuteronomy 32:9 we read, “The Lord’s portion is his people.” That should blow our minds, to think that God looks upon us as his inheritance! It seems impossible to believe, but it is true. God looks upon us every day as his precious ones and protects and takes care of us. He is the wall of fire around us, and the glory within. We are his inheritance; thus, he must protect us, and he does.

What a precious faith that is enjoyed by every believer! God himself is our inheritance. We are the richest people in the world. The world’s top billionaires are not the richest ones; we are. That is what the Bible says and what God says. It is the truth.

Through the Righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ

We have received this precious faith “through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ” (v. 1). The basis of our salvation is always our faith in the righteousness of Jesus Christ alone, who is God and Savior.

Jesus is God and man, one person in two natures. He alone perfectly obeyed the law of God. He was sinless. Paul writes, “But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood” (Rom. 3:21–25).[2]

The basis of our salvation is the righteousness of Christ. We read in Jeremiah 23:6, “The Lord our Righteousness.” We cannot be saved by our own good works. Paul says, “However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness” (Rom. 4:5). He also says, “[Christ] was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification” (Rom. 4:25). Notice, Christ died for our sins, not for his sins.

Peter tells us, “Make your calling and election sure” (2 Pet. 1:10). How do we do that? First, we must know that the basis of our salvation is the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. Paul said he wanted to be “found in [Christ], not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith” (Phil. 3:9).

Second, the proof of our salvation is our obedience, which is the fruit of righteousness. Paul writes that we are to be “filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:11). The fruit of righteousness is obedience. He also says, “We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has foreordained that we should do them” (Eph. 2:10).

If you are not obedient to our heavenly Master as a bond-slave, you are not saved. Our obedience is the proof of our salvation. Of Christ we read, “And, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him” (Heb. 5:9). We are called to obedience.

Grace and Peace

Then Peter writes, “Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord” (v. 2). Jesus alone is God/man. Jesus alone is perfect. Jesus alone never sinned. Jesus alone kept the law. And Jesus alone is the source of grace and peace, as we read in John 1:14, 16–17.

Throughout the word of God, we see Jesus. The word reveals Jesus to us—Jesus, who is the source of grace and peace, grace and salvation. In Acts 20:32, we read Paul’s last exhortation to the elders of the church of Ephesus. He says, “Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” Notice that phrase: “the word of his grace.” The word reveals Christ, who is the source of all grace and peace.

Grace is unmerited salvation to hell-meriting enemies of God. It is God’s power to save sinners by Christ’s substitutionary atonement (see Isa. 53). Jesus is the source of grace, as we read in Titus 2:11–14. Grace is the mother of peace and salvation; this grace is found only in Jesus by those who believe in him.

Peter concluded his first epistle by saying, “Peace to all those who are in Christ,” that is, who are vitally united to Christ (1 Pet. 5:14b). If you are not united to Christ by saving faith, you are a pagan. You may pretend to be a Christian, but that does not mean anything. The preaching of the gospel does not have any impact on you. But if you have been united with Christ, you will have peace with God. (PGM) Paul writes, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1).

There is no savior outside of Christ. Every other religion is paganism. It is idolatry, worship of creation. It is demonic (1 Cor. 10:19–22).

Through Christ, we have peace with God. We have peace even to be crucified, beheaded, and stoned to death. Peter, who wrote this, was crucified, yet he received grace and peace. Paul was beheaded, and Stephen, a young man, was stoned to death. When we have grace and peace, we can go through all kinds of problems. And we do so, believing in what Jesus himself promised: “Behold, I will be with you always, even unto the end of the ages” (Matt. 28:20).

Through Christ, we can experience grace and peace in abundance. Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.” The devil is a thief and a destroyer. Those who leave a true church are serving the devil every day through sin, through indulging in the pleasures of sin for a season. But not only did Jesus say, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy,” he also said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). Our God is generous.

We also read, “On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.’ By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified” (John 7:37–39). This is speaking about baptism in the Holy Spirit. It gives us power, authority, and boldness to preach the gospel.

Peter writes, “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (1 Pet. 1:8–9). Our joy is inexpressible, unspeakable. Human words cannot describe it. Jonathan Edwards, the greatest theologian of this country, experienced such ecstasy. It is not the ecstasy some people experience when they buy a new car. It is sheer, indescribable ecstasy when the Holy Spirit comes upon us.

Praise God for his grace! God gives us more grace and, therefore, more peace (James 4:6). God’s grace is sufficient to meet every need, even being crucified, and to deal with all enemies (2 Cor. 12:9).

Grace is Holy-Spirit power (2 Cor. 12:9). God gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). And God gives grace to those who pray (Heb. 4:16). Such people are always on their knees. They are humble. They say, “O God, I am weak. But give me the Holy Spirit.”

So Peter says, “Grace and peace be yours in abundance.” Where grace is, there is peace. They are two sides of the same coin. What we need is not a lot of money. We need grace and peace in abundance.

Knowledge

Peter concludes, “Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord” (v. 2). The knowledge we need is not from science or any other subject that we study in the university. Grace and peace comes from the word of grace, from the Bible, which reveals the person and work of Christ.

Peter emphasizes the idea of knowing and knowledge in his second epistle. He uses the verb and noun forms of “know/knowledge” eleven times. He uses the verb epignôskô and the noun epignôsis six times. The word used in verse 2, epignôsis, means true and full knowledge of the gospel. This is in contrast to fake and false knowledge, that is, the heresies, the heretical and demonic knowledge, which Peter opposed in 2 Peter 2.

In this church, we also oppose false teaching all the time. Paul also opposed false teachings, heresies, as we read in Galatians 1 and 2 Corinthians 11.

Peter writes:

But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.  Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.  In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.  (2 Pet. 2:1–3)

            Peter also says, “This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature and despise authority. Bold and arrogant, these men are not afraid to slander celestial beings” (2 Pet. 2:10). Autonomous people despise God’s authorities. They despise the delegated authority of the parents, the pastor, and the police, and they slander them. He also says, “Of them the proverbs are true: ‘A dog returns to its vomit,’ and, ‘A pig that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud’” (2 Pet. 2:22). Such people go out of the church so that they can wallow in the mud of sin.

Paul says, “As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!” (Gal. 1:9). Anathema! Cursed are you when you do not preach the true gospel. And any church where the pastor does not preach the gospel is a synagogue of Satan.

Many churches do not preach the true gospel, so that the hearers may know Jesus Christ as their Redeemer and be saved through the knowledge of his perfect righteousness imputed to them and thus be justified. Paul writes, “He who knew no sin became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him” (2 Cor. 5:21). Paul also says, “Christ Jesus has become for us wisdom from God—righteousness, holiness and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:30).

People will be saved when the pastor preaches the gospel. Cursed are the pastors who entertain people and preach only to their felt needs! Cursed are the pastors who preach a health and wealth heresy and the heresy of antinomianism, which is a heresy of immorality!

Apostles Peter and Paul preached the true gospel. Peter writes, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness” (1 Pet. 2:24). We died with Christ, we were buried with Christ, and we were raised with Christ—for what purpose? To live a new life, a holy life.

Paul writes, “When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom [philosophy] as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.  For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words [in the wisdom of the world], but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power” (1 Cor. 2:1–5).

Consider the last words of Paul to the elders to the church at Ephesus:

Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again.  Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of all men.  For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole [counsel] of God. Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.  I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock.  Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears. Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.  (Acts 20:25–32)

Paul declared, “For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole counsel of God.” All the apostles preached the whole counsel of God (Lat., omne consilium Dei; Grk., pasan tên boulên tou Theou).  In this church, we also preach the whole counsel of God. Our job is to lift Jesus higher, as Moses lifted the bronze snake in the wilderness, so that everyone who believes in him may receive eternal life. Remember what Jesus said: “But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself” (John 12:32).

The calling of a preacher is to lift Jesus Christ higher so that people may look to him, believe in him, and be saved. Paul asks, “How can they call upon the name of the Lord to be saved unless they believe? How can they believe unless they hear the gospel? How can they hear the gospel unless someone preaches to them? How can someone preach the gospel unless someone is sent by Christ to give us the true knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord?” (see Rom. 10:14–15).

So Paul writes, “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ” (Rom. 10:17). Jesus said about such knowledge: “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him” (Matt. 11:27). If you do not believe in Jesus, he did not choose to reveal himself to you. That is a curse. In other words, he does not reveal himself to everyone; he reveals himself only to the elect of God.

Our faith is precious because it is God’s gift to every regenerate child of God. It is faith in Jesus who is Christ, who is Savior, who is God, and who is Lord. Consider the following:

1. His Name Is Jesus

Our faith is in Jesus. This Jesus is the Seed of the woman (Gen. 3:15), the virgin Mary. He is the Seed who defeated the devil by his death and resurrection. The name “Jesus” comes from the Hebrew verb yasha, which means “to save.” Joseph was told, “His name is Jesus, for he shall save his people,” and only his people, “from their sins” (see Matt. 1:21).

There is no other Savior because Jesus alone is the atonement for our sins. He paid the wages of our sins. Jesus died to save us, his elect people.

Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life and have it more abundantly. . . . I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish” (John 10:10, 28). This is eternal security. I am not wondering every day whether I am saved or not. Jesus gave me eternal life.

2. Jesus Is the Christ

Jesus is the anointed Prophet, Priest, and King. He is ho Christos, the Messiah. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). He was anointed with the Holy Spirit without measure, as we read: “For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit” (John 3:34). Consider Peter’s confession: “Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ [the Messiah, the Anointed One], the Son of the living God’” (Matt. 16:16). Consider also the testimony of Jesus concerning himself: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed” (Luke 14:18). Jesus is the Christ.

3. Jesus Is Savior

Peter speaks of Jesus as Savior five times in this epistle. Jesus saves his people from their sins, from their guilt, and from eternal hell. As a result, we are justified and made sons and daughters of God by adoption, and our destiny is glory.

In Jesus, we are saved, we are being saved, and we shall be saved. Jesus alone came from heaven to seek and save the lost sinners. He went to seek the legion-demon man and saved him, and the former demoniac was found sitting down, clothed, and in his right mind. He saves every elect sinner in the whole world. The Samaritans said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world” (John 4:42).

4. Jesus Is God

This Jesus is God. John says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). After the resurrection, doubting Thomas finally believed in Christ and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28).[3]

Peter writes, “Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours” (v. 1).  In other words, Jesus is God.

Did you know the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God? All three Persons of the Godhead are co-equal. There are three Persons yet one Godhead. In eternity, in the eternal council, the Father planned our salvation, the Son agreed to accomplish our redemption in the fullness of time through his incarnational work, and the Holy Spirit agreed to apply redemption to all elect sinners in the world.

John says, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). Paul writes, “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons [and daughters]” (Gal. 4:4–5). Paul also says that he who was rich became poor so that we might become rich in him (see 2 Cor. 8:9). I am a rich person, not because of money people have given me. I am rich because my inheritance is God himself. And this is true of everyone who believes in Jesus Christ.

Paul also says, “[Christ], being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!” (Phil. 2:6–8).

5. Jesus Is Lord

Finally, Jesus is Lord. When God sent Moses to Egypt to deliver his people from slavery, God identified himself as Yahweh, Lord. The Greek translation of the Old Testament, known as the Septuagint, translates Yahweh with the word Kurios. The New Testament writers consciously gave this title Kurios to Jesus. In other words, Jesus of the New Testament is Yahweh of the Old Testament, the I am that I am, the God of the Old Testament. Jesus said, “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58).

In Romans 10:9–11, Paul begins, “If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord.” That means Jesus is the covenant Lord, and we must obey him as his bond-slaves. If a person is not obedient to Christ and his delegated authorities, he is not saved. He is the same old pagan, dead in sins and transgressions.

Paul also writes, “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:9–11). And that is what Thomas did when he said, “My Lord and my God!”

Jesus of the New Testament is the God of the Old Testament, Yahweh, the eternal I am that I am. Perhaps he had that in mind when he made the following statements:

• “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35).
• “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12).
• “I am the gate” (John 10:7).
• “I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11).
• “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25).
• “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).
• “I am the vine” (John 15:1).

Jesus Christ knew who he was. He is the covenant Lord who blesses or curses people. He blesses his people for obedience and curses them for disobedience.

Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords. He alone has received all authority in heaven and on earth. And as I preach, I am lifting him high because I see him lifted higher in the Scriptures. He is the only Sovereign, and we are his bond-slaves who love and obey him. He is both Savior and Judge. The question is, have you confessed him as Lord? When you confess him as Lord, you are also confessing that you are his bond-slave. You are saying to him, “Speak to me, and I will hear and do.”

Have you bowed your knees to him? On the cross, in Jesus the crucified one, “righteousness and peace kissed each other” (Ps. 85:10). Therefore, only in Jesus do we find grace and peace. He is our righteousness and he is our peace.

The believing thief prayed from the cross to the dying Jesus of the cross, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Luke 23:42). And the answer came: “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).

Can you assure me that you will not die today? You cannot. Therefore, I urge you to confess Christ as Lord today and bow your knees to him. The greatest thing in the universe is to be a bond-slave of Jesus.

God in Christ justifies the ungodly because in Christ’s righteousness we receive peace by faith. There is no condemnation for us who are in Christ Jesus, because in Christ Jesus righteousness and peace kissed each other. In Christ Jesus, there is grace and peace.

On the great judgment day, from the lips of our Savior and Judge, all people will hear either, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels,” or, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world” (Matt. 25:41, 46). May God help us to be among those who are blessed!

Listen, saints, to God’s word! Paul says, “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose” (Phil. 2:12–13). And the psalmist says, “Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him” (Ps. 2:11–12).

I beseech you, kiss the Son and be saved. The Philippian jailer asked the question in the middle of the night, “What must I do to be saved?” And the answer came from the apostle: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.” So if anyone is outside of Christ, may God have mercy upon that person, and may that person cry out to Jesus, because the Bible says, “Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.” And may God help us who are saved to receive grace and peace in abundance through the knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord. May we rejoice in God our Savior and be true bond-slaves of Christ, that we may hear and do God’s will, for his glory and for our eternal joy.

[1] John M. Frame, The Doctrine of God (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 2002), 34–35.

[2] For a thorough explanation, read my book, Good News for All People (Davis, CA: Grace and Glory Ministries, 2012).

[3] The apostle Thomas later came to India (to the area now known as Kerala) to preach the gospel. Many thousands of people, including my family and me, are a result of his preaching (Joel R. Beeke, Michael Haykin, Sinclair Ferguson, Church History 101 [Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage, 2016]).